Why God Really Hates Idolatry

“Place no other gods before me.” In many variations and in different words, this position is adamantly taken by God throughout both the Old and New Testament. Whether it be a golden calf or some other subject of worship, we have, down through history, been notorious for putting much before God whether it be a home, a car, our finances or perhaps ourselves and our own little desires. Our position here is not focused upon those who claim to be non-believers. Just about everyone suddenly becomes a believerwhen confronted with seemingly disastrous occurrences involving their health, finances or personal circumstances. So, what of the Christian who has decided God has serious authority issues? What of the believer who doesn't see beyond God's continual warnings? What is the real reason for the warnings?

Throughout God's Word, we see many instances where those who worshiped false gods got themselves jammed up. They rode their belief system right to the edge only to find that when it all came down, the thing they bet their lives on either failed to materialize or didn't exist at all. Imagine the dilemma. All prayed up and nobody shows. Such is the prophetic ending for those who bet the farm on the wrong horse.

So, what's that got to with idolatry? Everything. There are those who believe God is pushing the 'false gods' thing just to be sure we worship and praise no other.

The real deal? He knows full well what Satan is up to and since that little demon has always been very good at twisting the facts and convincing even well-meaning Christians of just about anything, the subjects of faith, praise and worship have always been Satan's focus. Consider his logic. As twisted as it is, we must remember he is just doing his job. It is our responsibility to make sure he doesn't finish mission.

So, you ask, what's the operating procedure? How's he gonna work this thing? When we look at the Prophet Elijah, he stood on Mt. Carmel and effectively called out Ba'al's prophets, Jezebel's prophets and the Nation of Israel. In the end, those who were counting on Ba'al to show were sadly disappointed and many committed suicide on the spot while others were slain. Put yourself in the position of those prophets for a hot second and you'll see. You believed in something. You gave it praise. You worshiped it's existence in your mind and flatly refused to hear or accept anything negative about it. You had faith that no matter what, it would see you through anything. Then, one fine day, reality hits like a freight train and you find that all your praise, worship and faith was for naught. Whatcha gonna do?

This is exactly why God warns us about false idols and false gods. He knows the human mindset all too well. We are inherently loathe as humans to believe in what we can't see, hear or touch. Satan knows this. It is his job to get us to worship, praise and instill our faith in something which will ultimately prove false and let us down at the absolute worst time. God certainly does not want to see this happen to His little ones. No, it's not God having jealousy or authority issues. It is God seeing the end result of what happens when we DO seek to follow something or someone other than Him as He knows the letdown and subsequent disappointment will be too great for us to bear and we will be so ashamed of ourselves for getting duped, we'll hide our faces from Him. Some are even so arrogant as to blame God.

“How could you let me do this? I thought you were supposed to stop me from doing stuff like this.” Guess what, folks? You were warned. Repeatedly. We were given free will, remember?

He did not force Himself on us. We started this thing called life with free will and a clean slate. God's Word was what He made available for us to provide guidance in a world full of sin. A way to navigate around the serpents and the snake pits while at the same time reaching out to some of these snakes in an effort to bring them into the Kingdom of God. We was in that snake pit ourselves, once. Weren't we? We was duckin' and dodgin' and schemin' and creepin' so we know what we idolized back then. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ourselves and our own little pleasures and now we whine when the preacher asks for a few more dollars. Was it not God who showed you the ladder to get you from that snake pit to the palace? Yeah, you took it and now you begrudge God even your spare change. You still idolizing that thing, don't ya? Guess what? We was born broke and we die broke. Whatever happens in the middle really don't matter, do it? Sure, we gotta pay bills, seek shelter and all that. It ain't that drastic, folks.

Think of your very first thought when the preacher asks for money? That thought is indicative of where you really place your treasure.

You used to hustle like a madman to buy what you wanted back in the world but you won't even get up off it and help with an outreach team to raise money? Even if you don't have a dime for the plate, you can raise it. Just like you did when you wanted what you wanted back in the day when you was all up in your mess thinkin' you was nickleslick. Go ahead. Idolize your little money. Idolize your time. “That church is always askin' me to do this or that. Don't those jokers realize I got stuff to do?” Who would you call if your electric was cut off and your money got funny? When your fridge is bare and your kids is lookin' at you like you some kinda failure? You gonna pick up your little phone (if that ain't shut off) and call the church. Now, in order to help you, they would have to have money and where would that money come from if people didn't put something in the plate or try to raise it through street outreach?

I guess somebody was worshiping and praising the God you only call on when you in trouble. Otherwise, whatever it is you been worshiping and praising instead of God just let you down. Again.

So, the real reason God hates idolatry? He loves you.